Inserting string data including &

I'm trying to load a database table. The table contains several string columns, and in many places the value of that string must contain an ampersand (&).

When I code an insert statement like this:

insert into edit_messages (edit_number, title, intro)   values(123, '--  line of error message', '--  line 2 of message);

SQL*Plus assumes that &nbsp is a variable and prompts me for a value for it. Is there a way to escape the & so that it becomes just part of the string?

-- 
Tim Slattery
Slattery_T_at_bls.gov
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt